which necessity requires, compared with the enterprize we have proposed to ourselves, and the enthusiasm which animates us? Spaniards, the power of our adversary is colossal, his ambition is still greater than his power, and his existence is incompatible with our liberty. Judge of his exertions by the barbarity of his character, and the extremity of his danger; but these are the exertions of a tyrant, and will be confounded, opposed to the valour of a great and free people, who have resolved upon no other termination to their conflict than to conquer or die.

Considering the magnitude and importance of this first object, the junta turned its attention to the vast means necessary to attain it. The neglect of the last government, if that may be called government which was one continued and monstrous dilapidation, had exhausted all the sources of prosperity, had obstructed the canals which brought Jife and food to all the members of the state, dissipating the treasures, disorganizing the public force, and consuming the resources.

The junta has already announced to the public the great savings which result from the suppression of the expences of the royal household, the enormous sums which had been devoured by the greedy and insatiable avarice of the favourite, the product of his great possessions, and that of the estates of those unworthy Spaniards who fled with the tyrant. We may add to these the profit which will accrue to the state from a free navigation and commerce, and from the communication already opened with America. Principally we rely on a well-arranged administration of the public revenue, and

regularly distributed contributions, to the reform and management of which the junta will directly apply its attention. We may add to these means, the succours which are now given with so generous a hand, and will be hereafter granted us by the English nation. But it is incumbent on us that these succours which have been so opportunely given, and so gratefully received, and the effects of which have been so beneficial, should be hereafter recognised and recompensed with the reciprocity and decorum which become a great and powerful na tion. The Spanish monarchy ought not, in this respect, to be placed in a state of inequality and dependence upon its allies.

The produce of these means will certainly be great, but at the same time it will be slow, and for that reason insufficient for the urgent necessities of the state. Are they sufficient to furnish for a time the ordinary supplies, discharge the immense debt, which will be incurred, and maintain the formida ble army which is to be kept on foot? But the junta will, in case the manifold events and force of circumstances should exhaust the treasury, have recourse at once to the nation with the confidence which its ardent patriotism ought to inspire, and the necessity and notoriety of the sacrifice. For evils so extraordinary as the present, remedies as extraordinary must be applied; and as the government judges it to be one of its obligations to

give an exact account to the na tion of the application of the resources and funds which it is about to administer, it has no fear that its demands will be disregarded through distrust, or be detested as arbitrary.

Thus

Thus much with respect to the defence of the kingdom, and the means of effecting it, the most urgent concerns and the first in the order of time which the junta has under its care. But, Spaniards, there are others as necessary and primary as that, without attending to which the junta would fulfil but half its duties, and which is the great reward of your enthusiasm and sacrifices. Political independence is nothing without felicity and interior security. Turn your eyes to the time when oppressed and degraded, ignorant of your own strength, and finding no asylum against your evils, either in the institutions or in the laws, you. held foreign dominion less odious than the wasting tyranny which internally consumed you. The dominion of a will always capricious, and for the greater part unjust, has, for your calamity, lasted long enough in Spain: your patience, your love of order, and your gene rous loyalty, have been long enough abused; it is time that the voice of the law only should begin to command, founded on general utility. This was the desire of our good and unfortunate monarch; this was the path he pointed out, even during an unjust captivity to which a perfidious traitor reduced him. Country, Spaniards! ought not to be a vague and a vain name to you: it ought to import in your ears and in your heart the sanctuary of the laws and customs, the theatre for talents, and the reward of virtue.

Yes, Spaniards, the great day is drawing near, when, according to the uniform desires of our beloved king and of his loyal people, the monarchy will be established on solid and durable bases. You will then possess fundamental laws,

which will be beneficial, friends of order, restrictive of arbitrary power; and these being re-established, and your genuine rights being assured, you will rejoice to behold a monument worthy of you, and of the monarch who is to watch over the preservation of it, blessing, amid so many calamities, the share which the people will have had in its erection. The junta, which holds in its hand the supreme direction of the national forces, in order, by all means, to assure its defence, felicity, and glory; the junta, which has already publicly acknowledged the great influence which a nation ought to have in the government, which alone, and without any assistance, has done every thing in the name of the king and for his cause; the junta solemnly promise to you, that you shall possess that country which you have invoked with so much enthusiasm, and defended, or rather conquered, with so much va、 lour.

Until the military operations, slow at first, in order better to secure a happy result, shall furnish the opportunity and repose necessary for the grand and solemn reunion which it announces to you, the government will take care privately to discuss and to examine the projects of reform, and the institutions which ought to be presented for the national sanction. Without instruction, or knowledge, or data, the majestic work of legislation is the result of a blind and unstable will, and as such, exposed to error, inconsistency, and contempt. Wise Spaniards! you who devoted to the investigation of the social principles, unite the love of humanity to the love of country, and instruction of zeal: this concern is yours, the happy execution

of

The

of which is so necessary. junta, instead of rejecting your council, desires and seeks it. The knowledge and illustration of our ancient constitutional law; changes, which, in their re-establishment, they ought to undergo from the difference of circumstances; reforms which are to be made in the civil, criminal, and commercial codes; projects to meliorate public education, which, among us, is so greatly in decline; a system of regulated economy for the better distribution and collection of the national revenue; all these claim your attention, and form a vast series of problems and objects of meditation, in which you may manifest your talents and your acquirements. The junta will form from among you different committees, each entrusted with a particular department, to whom are to be freely addressed all writings on matters of government and administration, in which may be discussed the different objects which claim the general attention; so that each contributing by his exertions to give a just and enlightened direction to the public opinion, they may enable the nation to establish solidly, and tranquilly its internal felicity.

The Spanish revolution will thus be distinguished by characteristic features, altogether the reverse of those which were seen in the French revolution. That began in the wretched internal intrigues of courtiers; ours, in the necessity of repelling an unjust and powerful aggressor: in that, there were as many opinions concerning the forms of government as there were factions, or rather persons: in ours, there is but one opinion, one general desire; an hereditary monarchy, and Ferdinand VII. on

the throne. The French, shedding torrents of blood during their anarchy, proclaimed no one principle which they did not afterwards reject; they made no law which they did not violate, and at last they submitted to a barbarous despotism. The Spaniards, who, on account of the perfidious invasion of the French, found themselves without a government, and without communication with each other, have not shewn themselves terrible or bloody, except towards their enemies, and well know how to meliorate their institutions, and consolidate their liberty, without overthrowing the state.

O Spaniards! How beautiful a perspective of glory and felicity we behold before us, if we know how to profit by the singular epoch; if we fulfil the high purposes which Providence points out to us! Instead of being objects of compassion and contempt, as we have hitherto been, we are about to become the envy and admiration of the world. The delicious climate we enjoy, the fertile soil whence we draw our subsistence, our geographical position, the riches which nature has lavished upon us, and the noble and generous character with which she has endowed us, will not be wasted gifts in the hands of a vile and enslaved people.

Already the Spanish name is pronounced with respect in Europe, whose nations, which lie trampled upon by the French, hang all their hopes upon our fortune; even the very slaves of the tyrant, groaning under his intolerable yoke, form vows for us. Let us be constant, and we shall gather the fruit which victory will produce: the laws of religion satisfied; our monarch either restored to the throne, or avenged;

avenged; the fundamental laws of the monarchy restored and consecrated, in a manner solemn, and consonant with civil liberty; the fountains of public prosperity pouring benefits spontaneously, and without impediment; our relations with our colonies drawn more closely and become more fraternal, and consequently more useful; in fine, activity, industry, talents and virtues stimulated and rewarded: to such a degree of splendour and fortune we shall raise our country, if we ourselves correspond with the magnificent circumstances which surround us.

These are the views, and this is the plan which the junta proposed to itself from the moment of its installation, in order to fulfil the two primary and essential objects of its institution, Its members charged with an authority so great, and making themselves responsible by entertaining hopes so flattering, do not fail to see the difficulties they have to conquer, in order to realize them, the enormity of the weight which hangs over them, nor the dangers to which they are exposed; but they will think the fatigues, and the devotion of their persons to the service of the country well paid, if they succeed in inspiring Spaniards with that confidence, without which the public good cannot be secured, and which the junta dares to affirm it merits, from the rectitude of its principles and the purity of its intentions. Aranjuez, Oct. 20, 1808.

November 20.

A PROCLAMATION

By the Intendant-general of Police of the Court of Justices District. Portuguese !-Where does your fury transport you? Do you sup

pose that the English are become French? No, my dear countrymen. The English are not come here in the character of conquerors as the Frenchmen did; they came to free us from the slavery that oppressed us. If we deny this truth, we must be reproached as an ungrateful people. The English did not enter Portugal from any motives of ambition; their motives are more generous, wise, and politic; they know very well that views of aggrandizement always tend to destroy the equilibrium that forms the fundamental law of nations. What Great Britain aims at, is only the restitution of all countries to their lawful sovereigns. Ah, incomparable George! How great will be thy glory in future times! Where is the sovereign in Europe that does not, at present, owe his crown to thee? Thy name shall for ever shine in the Portuguese annals. Excuse then, O mighty king! the indiscreet zeal of a people, who love their sovereign, and whose feelings are partly analogous to thy views. Remain quiet, then, O ye inhabitants of the most faithful and loyal city in Portugal; it is to you, ye inhabitants of Porto, that I speak, for those honourable epithets are indisputably your right. Consider that the glorious cause which you have undertaken can only be obstructed and retarded by vain and tumultuous mobs. This is what the common enemy wishes for; and a civil war would only retard their total destruction. Let us then unite ourselves to our faithful allies, the English, and the Spaniards, in order to overthrow that hellish monster. The union of these three nations will scorn all Frenchmen's threats, their intrigues and perfidy. We shall then have the glory of being instrumental in

the